Cheers for Monday, July 29, 2013

Monday

Jul 29, 2013 at 2:00 AM

To Hassel "Junior" Barber of Kingston — although he does not have a home there or anywhere else, for that matter. What he has is integrity, which was on display when he found a wallet with $485 in it and turned it over to police, earning him local fame at first, which then spread around the nation. Kingston police helped start spreading the good news by putting a post on the department Facebook page after returning the wallet to its owner. Barber explained that he has survived on the streets by collecting cans and bottles for their deposits. So far, he has stuck to his longtime practice of refusing any and all offers of help. Those who are inspired by his good deed and moved to do something might consider a donation to a local food bank or homeless shelter in his name, police suggested. To a few dozen elementary and middle-school students from Newburgh who are spending part of their summer working on science projects, and to SUNY Orange for helping make this experience possible. A five-year grant from the state pays the expenses — part of an effort to help lower New York's dropout rate. So far, the results have been encouraging, with 98 percent of the students who take part graduating from high school and 93 percent going on to college, according to state statistics. That has inspired planning for an after-school program in math and science for Newburgh students in the fall To Catskill Regional Medical Center's Grover M. Hermann Hospital in Callicoon, which recently was named one of the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals for Quality. These 20 scored best among critical access hospitals on iVantage Health Analytics' Hospital Strength Index for Quality — a rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across five categories of Hospital Compare Process of Care measures. The winning hospitals competed against 1,328 critical access hospitals nationwide for the honor. To New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who is helping spread the effort to recognize same-sex marriages by using the power of the state's $160 billion pension system. DiNapoli and others in state government want to make sure that those who are married in New York do not have to give up any of their rights when they move to another state. He is trying to influence companies that do business with the state pension fund to adopt anti-discrimination measures. To the City of Kingston for using $30,000 in state funding to bring more fishing to the city waterfront. This is especially helpful for those with low incomes who live in the city and might not have access to other areas where they can fish. The new pier is planned for the Rondout Creek near the T.R. Gallo Park, close to some low-income subsidized housing complexes. To lure — pun intended — newcomers, the Federated Sportsmen's Clubs of Ulster Conuty will provide fishing equipment and host classes in the downtown area on how to fish. The city has to raise $20,000 to supplement the state funds.

To Hassel "Junior" Barber of Kingston — although he does not have a home there or anywhere else, for that matter. What he has is integrity, which was on display when he found a wallet with $485 in it and turned it over to police, earning him local fame at first, which then spread around the nation. Kingston police helped start spreading the good news by putting a post on the department Facebook page after returning the wallet to its owner. Barber explained that he has survived on the streets by collecting cans and bottles for their deposits. So far, he has stuck to his longtime practice of refusing any and all offers of help. Those who are inspired by his good deed and moved to do something might consider a donation to a local food bank or homeless shelter in his name, police suggested. To a few dozen elementary and middle-school students from Newburgh who are spending part of their summer working on science projects, and to SUNY Orange for helping make this experience possible. A five-year grant from the state pays the expenses — part of an effort to help lower New York's dropout rate. So far, the results have been encouraging, with 98 percent of the students who take part graduating from high school and 93 percent going on to college, according to state statistics. That has inspired planning for an after-school program in math and science for Newburgh students in the fall To Catskill Regional Medical Center's Grover M. Hermann Hospital in Callicoon, which recently was named one of the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals for Quality. These 20 scored best among critical access hospitals on iVantage Health Analytics' Hospital Strength Index for Quality — a rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across five categories of Hospital Compare Process of Care measures. The winning hospitals competed against 1,328 critical access hospitals nationwide for the honor. To New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who is helping spread the effort to recognize same-sex marriages by using the power of the state's $160 billion pension system. DiNapoli and others in state government want to make sure that those who are married in New York do not have to give up any of their rights when they move to another state. He is trying to influence companies that do business with the state pension fund to adopt anti-discrimination measures. To the City of Kingston for using $30,000 in state funding to bring more fishing to the city waterfront. This is especially helpful for those with low incomes who live in the city and might not have access to other areas where they can fish. The new pier is planned for the Rondout Creek near the T.R. Gallo Park, close to some low-income subsidized housing complexes. To lure — pun intended — newcomers, the Federated Sportsmen's Clubs of Ulster Conuty will provide fishing equipment and host classes in the downtown area on how to fish. The city has to raise $20,000 to supplement the state funds.